UC Students, Parents Have New Options Under Federal Health law

University of California students may already know that they are required to have health insurance to be enrolled in the system. What they may not know is that they and their parents have new options under the Affordable Care Act.

For more than ten years, UC students, under a Regents mandate, have been required to have health insurance. But over the next year, students will have more choices.

At UC Davis for example, plans offered under Covered California could cost less than the university plan, if a family qualifies for a government subsidy.

Some lower income parents may not have to pay for student health insurance, if they qualify for expanded Medi-Cal.

“It’s possible that plans for some students with subsidy will be cheaper than the plan that they’re buying from the university, the SHIP plan," says Drew Halfmann, who teaches health policy at UC Davis.

"Some parents, who are currently buying the SHIP program will no longer have to buy the SHIP program because they’re now covered by Medicaid,” he says.

UC Davis Insurance Services says it does expect some migration from the university plan to other options under the Affordable Care Act.

It says for families that don’t qualify for government financial help, the campus health plan is a better deal in terms of cost and benefits.